Earlier this year, novelist Tony Buchsbaum, writing for January Magazine, also proposed warning labels for books after he read a choice snippit from the YA novel Will Grayson, Will Grayson that included the line “cock + pussy = a happy rooster-kitten couple” (this and other colorful language was a part of instant message repartee among the male teen protagonists). Grayson believed that the book was the first time his son had encountered such phrases (which also included a reference to a “fierce quivering manpole”) and this may be true. His response was to ask why the publisher didn’t find a way to warn parents about the content of the book (to offer parents an opportunity to talk about it), which sounds innocuous enough–until you consider the many, many other possible uses for such a label, and what it might be applied to.

Would “Isn’t it Brolicious?” merit a sticker? Probably not–but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want that to be Ms. Fechtel’s call.

Images courtesy of Archie Comics

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